I'd like to invite you now to please stand with me for the reading of God's Word as we turn first to Isaiah chapter 53. Isaiah chapter 53. We'll be reading verses 1 through 12. Isaiah chapter 53. The Word of the Lord says, Who has believed our report? And to whom has the arm of the Lord been revealed? For he shall grow up before him as a tender plant, and as a root out of dry ground. He has no form or comeliness, and when we see him there is no beauty that we should desire him. He is despised and rejected by men, a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief, and we hid, as it were, our faces from him. He was despised and we did not esteem him. Surely he has borne our griefs and carried our sorrows, yet we esteemed him stricken, smitten by God, and afflicted. but he was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities. The chastisement for our peace was upon him, and by his stripes we are healed. All we like sheep have gone astray. We have turned everyone to his own way, and the Lord has laid on him the iniquity of us all. He was oppressed and he was afflicted, yet he opened not his mouth. He was led as a lamb to the slaughter, and as a sheep before its shears is silent, so he opened not his mouth. He was taken from prison and from judgment, and who will declare his generation? For he was cut off from the hand of the living, for the transgressions of my people he was strickened, and they made his grave with the wicked, but with the rich at his death, because he had done no violence, nor was any deceit in his mouth. Yet it pleased the Lord to bruise him. He has put him to grief. When you make his soul an offering for sin, he shall see his seed, he shall prolong his days, and the pleasure of the Lord shall prosper in his hand. he shall see the labor of his soul and be satisfied. By his knowledge, my righteous servant shall justify many, for he shall bear their iniquities. Therefore I will divide him a portion with the great, and he shall divide the spoiled with the strong, because he poured out his soul unto death, and he was numbered with their transgressions. and he bore the sin of many and made intercession for his transgressors." May God add a blessing to the reading of his word. I'd like to invite you now to turn with me to Romans chapter 5, as we read verses 1 through 11. Romans chapter 5, verses 1 through 11. The Apostle Paul writes, Therefore, having been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom also we have access by faith into this grace in which we stand and rejoice in hope of the glory of God. And not only that, but we also glory in tribulations, knowing that tribulation produces perseverance. and perseverance character and character hope. Now hope does not disappoint because the love of God has been poured out in our hearts by the Holy Spirit who was given to us. For when we were still without strength, in due time Christ died for the ungodly. For scarcely for a righteous man will one die, yet perhaps for a good man someone would even dare to die. but God demonstrates his own love towards us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. Much more than having now been justified by his blood, we shall be saved from wrath through him. For if when we were enemies, we were reconciled to God through the death of his son, much more having been reconciled, we shall be saved by his life. And not only that, but we also rejoice in God through our Lord, Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received the reconciliation. All flesh is like grass and all of its glory is like the flower of the grass. The grass withers and the flower falls, but the word of the Lord abides forever. And all of God's children said, amen. Please be seated. Let's pray. Lord God in heaven, we thank you that we can gather together and sit under your word and pray, Heavenly Father, that you would give us ears to hear and eyes to see the riches and the beauty of the Word of God. Help us apply it to our life and help us to live for your glory, for it is in your precious name we pray. Amen. Well, I'd ask you to turn to Romans chapter 5, but since we just turned there for the reading of God's word. Well, on October 1987, a little girl by the name of Jessica McClure was playing near brush that had grown entirely out of control. didn't see the well, but fell down into an abandoned well shaft. The shaft was only 8 inches in diameter, but it was 20 feet deep. As you can imagine, little Jessica is feeling trapped. It is dark, so she is adequately fearful and scared. It is wet. Her parents are unable to help her. She is frightened. And all of a sudden, as a result of little Jessica falling down this well, her town, Midland, Texas, became the focus of the whole nation. Jessica's story is now covered by every news network that is focused in Midland. The town has encamped around the top of this well shaft, and as these people look down on her with tears streaming down her young face, she calls out to her daddy to come rescue her. Her daddy, who feels absolutely powerless, as we can imagine, can't do anything for her, and as her parents look down at their baby girl, tears begin streaming down their cheeks as well. As paramedics and police officers and firefighters and EMT folks, for 15 hours, these men dig and drill into this well so as to save young Jessica But what they discover is that inside the well there's limestone, which, as you may or may not know, causes cracks and breaks in the drill. And so as they dig and continue to drill, they actually have to replace the drills that they're drilling with. But finally, as these men, after 15 hours, continue to persevere and work to save young Jessica, they finally reach her. One of these men very gingerly crawls his way into the well. She is covered in dirt and filth. She's scared. And he simply brings her into the warmth of his embrace. He wipes her tears off of her face. He untangles her and he takes her to her. mom and dad. She looks anxiously for them. She needs to look no more as they come running to her to embrace their baby. Their tears were at one point panic-ridden are now tears of celebration and joy. The epistle written to the Christians in the book of Romans, to put things neatly for us, is Paul's unequivocal letter to the church that salvation is by faith on the basis of God's electing grace. Some Christians over the years have been taught wrongly and believe wrongly that Christ saves us by faith And then it becomes our job to continue on in the persevering work, our power, sort of, to maintain the righteousness that would then allow us to be saved. They don't know it, but what they're teaching and believing is what is called works righteousness. And it's not, as we know, biblical. The issue is one that Paul contends with as he writes Romans. And to make the argument crystal clear in the book of Romans, Paul appeals that it is salvation through faith. He writes about the story of Abraham, Genesis chapter 15 verse 6, in Romans chapter 4 verse 3. Let me read verses one through four for you this morning. He says, what then shall we say that Abraham our father has found according to the flesh? For if Abraham was justified by works, he has something to boast about, but not before God. For what does the scripture say? Abraham believed God and it was accounted to him for righteousness. Now to him who works, the wages are not counted as grace, but as debt." What is it that Paul is arguing there? That the reason Abraham cannot boast is because of the simple fact that the reason Abraham believes upon the Lord our God in the first place is because it was a work of regenerative grace that allowed Abraham to believe and then to subsequently live the Christian life in worship to the Lord our God, as He trusted the Father to bring about the Son to redeem those who are His through the sacrificial death, resurrection, and ascension of Jesus Christ. It is God's regenerating work in Abraham that allows him to believe and then to live out what the Lord calls us to according to his word. The beautiful thing about the gospel and the message of Jesus Christ is that like Jessica, all of us must be saved. And yet we cannot do the saving of our own souls through some work we perform. Because apart from Christ, and apart from His regenerating work in us, there is no hope. Salvation is a work of God in us. And what Paul writes to us this morning, mostly through the entirety of the book of Romans, but certainly of Romans 5-6-11, is that this work that he does in us, our growth because of that work that he does in us, is the basis of our confidence in him. So what Paul is actually declaring to the church is that it isn't some philosophical work that Jesus Christ does that we believe upon. It is a very real work in which we start off very differently than the way we go home to be with Him. And that work that he does in us is the confidence that we need to know that even after I have made a series of mistakes, he is continuing to work in me for the praise of his glorious name. And it is the reason, this confidence that we have, that we can say with Paul that there is therefore no condemnation. for those who are in Christ Jesus." As we look at this passage in light of the fact that we are taking the sacrament of the Lord's Supper, we have to understand and have a sense that we are unworthy for what God has done for us in his electing us and the Son saving us through his death, burial, and resurrection, and the Spirit's work of sanctifying us as we live this life. We don't deserve it. That's the first thing. In other words, we should have a sense of humility because of it. But secondly, there ought to be a sense of confidence, because even though we make mistakes, this sanctifying work that He does in us, we make mistakes, we sin, we say things to people we shouldn't, we regret things that we'd done before we came to Christ, it is because of Christ and His saving work in our hearts and minds. We know that He's going to carry us all the way home, beginning on the very day that we trusted him as our Lord and Savior. Amen? We have confidence because of this work that he has done in us. In verses six through eight, we see a confidence in Christ because of the certainty of his love In verses 9 and 10, we have a confidence in Christ because we are delivered from God's judgment. Finally, verse 11, we have confidence in Christ because we have a joy because of our salvation. Let's take a second just to say that this confidence that Paul says that we have because of the work of Jesus Christ, isn't a confidence that builds up our self-esteem only. In other words, what Paul is writing, he doesn't write simply to tell us how good we are in the sight of God or how much God, through Christ, did for us because we're such dearly loved people. Although it is true, we are dearly loved by Him. The work that He does in us, He does out of pure, unadulterated desire that we worship Him. And the only way that we could worship Him in what is due His name is by a work in us. So, without further ado, would you again follow along with me as I read verses 6 through 11 of Romans chapter 5. For when we were still without strength, in due time Christ died for the ungodly. For scarcely for a righteous man will one die, yet perhaps for a good man someone would even dare to die. But God demonstrates his own love towards us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. Much more than having now been justified by his blood, we shall be saved from wrath through him. For if, when we were enemies, we were reconciled to God through his death of his Son, much more having been reconciled, we shall be saved by his life. Not only that, but we also rejoice in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received the reconciliation. Our text, very simply, in verses six through eight, begins with the confidence we have in Christ because of the certainty of his love. So again, Paul is looking to prove to us, the church, why you and I ought to have confidence in Christ. And here, these first three verses, Paul gives us three reasons why his love is one of those things that gives us this confidence. You notice verse six, He writes, for when we were still without strength, in due time Christ died for the ungodly. He says, without strength. The Greek word that is translated here as strength is the Greek word asthenon. It means helpless. So what Paul begins in describing this love that we have through Christ for the elect is that he isn't describing this strength we don't have to kind of climb the spiritual ladder into a reconciliation with our Father in heaven and sanctification. What he's saying is that we're incapable of doing so. Just a flat out, straight up first point in talking about his love towards us is that Christ does something for us that we don't deserve. That we do not deserve. You notice here that it is in his time, he says, in due time, Christ died for the ungodly. So what Paul is saying is that we don't have the ability to come to the Lord and that the Lord came to us. And what he's describing theologically is what is called the depravity of man. The depravity of man, very simply, is that you and I not only have no desire to look for God or to seek after God, but even if we had some kind of an inkling in our head to do it, we wouldn't have the ability to do it. That there's nothing inside of us that strives after such a good thing as God. And Paul writes about that in Ephesians chapter 2, verses 1 through 5. Let me sum it up for you. It says we are dead in our trespasses and sins and therefore our coming to Christ is not something we can or want to do. So in due time Christ died for those who the Father had chosen from eternity past. So our first reason for confidence in Christ's love for us is his willingness to give to us something that we didn't deserve. Notice secondly, verse seven, it says, for scarcely for a righteous man, one will die. Yet perhaps for a good man, someone would even dare to die. The point being made here goes back to his point in verse six regarding the ungodly. The idea here is that if Scripture tells us that we are as depraved as we are, and we are to believe what Scripture tells us about our depravity, then what we ought to realize is that in His love for us, He does something that we don't deserve, and our confidence is in the fact that He does it even for people who do not yet even care about Him. If there was a good man, one might die, but if there is someone who is righteous, someone may dare to die. But because we are as depraved as scripture tells us we are, we have all the more reason to be confident in the fact that he does truly, actually love us as his word says he does. Thirdly, verse eight, The third reason we have confidence in the love of Christ is that he demonstrates it for us. But God demonstrates his own love towards us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. This word demonstrates, a Greek word meaning to cause something to be known through action. What the Greek word kind of depicts for us is someone literally taking us through a process so that we can know what it is that they're trying to show us through what they're doing. When I was in high school, I had to take home ec. There was a requirement. One of the things that I had to do in home ec is I had to make a bag. You had to buy a little kit, you had to buy the material, you had to buy the little patch that went on the bag that, you know, so I bought a Michigan Wolverine bag. Do you know that that thing still works today? I praise God for that. I worked hard for that. They had to teach me how to sew and knit and crochet, maybe not crochet, but certainly sew things and how to thread the needle on the sewing machine, and I put this thing together. But in order for me to understand how it fits together, someone had to sit down and show me step by step. what it is that needed to be done. And what Paul is arguing is that through the death, burial, resurrection, and ascension of Jesus Christ, he literally shows us his eternal love for you and I. Therefore, we have confidence in him. The confidence that we have in Jesus Christ because of the work that he has done for us on our behalf is one that very much looks like going through life and feeling as if we make constant mistakes, constant sins. We let people in our life down. We feel sometimes as if we can't do anything right. As if life just pours upon us every issue that life can give to a person. And somewhere along the line, if we're not careful in abiding in Christ, We'll begin to wonder if the Lord truly loves us as he says he does according to his word, and what Paul is reassuring us of is that he does. Amen? Secondly, verses 9 and 10, we have confidence because he delivered us from the Father's judgment. Follow along with me. says, much more than having now been justified by his blood, we shall be saved from the wrath through him. For if when we were enemies we were reconciled to God through the death of his son, much more having been reconciled, we shall be saved by his life. The question that we should be asking of the text is, what is justification, and why is it one of the basis Paul gives us for our confidence in Christ? Justification, the Greek word dikaio, literally means to cause someone to be in right relationship with someone else. Let me point something out that the definition makes perfectly clear. The justification, biblical justification, is not something that you and I create through good works. It is something that God grants us in his mercy towards the elect because He works regeneration in us to believe upon Him. Justification, then, is two things. First, it is God declaring us. And by declaring, I mean legally stating for all of eternity that you and I are made righteous in His sight. You may not feel righteous. You may wonder how someone like me could be declared righteous. but it is nevertheless who we are in Christ, declared righteous. The second thing that justification is, however, is Christ's righteousness being imputed to us. Imputation is an accounting term. It means that God applies Christ's righteousness to our account. In other words, His righteousness becomes ours through God's electing of us and Christ's perfect obedience on our behalf. He justifies us. He says, having now been justified by His blood, we shall be saved from wrath through Him. What that means is that when the Father looks at us, He does not see the person we were, He sees His Son, Jesus Christ, who worked perfect obedience unto the Father that was given to us. It's death as a substitutionary atonement that we might live. Notice verse 10. For if, when we were enemies, we were reconciled to God through the death of his Son, much more having been reconciled, we shall be saved by his life." Paul now gives an argument, something he does throughout other epistles and other arguments he makes in Romans, where he starts off with a greater argument leading into a lesser argument. The idea here, going back to verse eight, is Christ's death, His substitutionary atonement, happened before you and I had ever heard the name of Jesus Christ. In other words, the Father from eternity past picked some that would be saved through His Son, Jesus Christ. And His picking, obviously, happened before you and I ever heard of Him. of the father or of the son. And then in God's timing, he would work in us to believe upon him and be saved. That work is a demonstration of the extent of his love towards the elect. Therefore, our faith is not something we've accomplished, but by him in us. But our confidence from the greater It is about the knowledge that we are reconciled through the Son and called to faith before we had ever heard the Son's name. The lesser argument, the end of verse 10, it says, much more having been reconciled, we shall be saved by his life. That's an argument that The Father has chosen some, the Son died on the cross for the elect, and the Spirit works in us to believe. But the idea there is the assurance that we have that even though it happened however many thousands of years ago, and whatever day it was that we finally submitted to the Lordship of Jesus Christ, and we cried out to Him in repentance of our sins, On whatever day, whatever year of our life that occurred, He's going to continue to save us and sanctify us until the day that Christ comes. Therefore, we have confidence in Christ our Lord. Philippians 1, verse 6, being confident of this very thing, that he who has begun a good work in you will complete it until the day of Jesus Christ. the extent of our justification and therefore the confidence that we have in Christ is that Christ's righteousness makes us righteous and he carries us until we go to be with him for all of eternity. Again, regardless of how we might personally feel, it is the work that Christ does in us. Finally, verse 11, we have confidence in Christ because we boast of his work and our salvation. He says, and not only that, but we also rejoice in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received the reconciliation. You notice that Paul says we rejoice. Not only that, but we also rejoice in God through our Lord Jesus Christ. Did you know that the word translated rejoice is a term that expresses an unusually high decree of confidence in someone else? See this word boast or rejoice in 1 Corinthians 1.31 where Paul writes, that as it is written, he who glories, that's the word, let him glory in the Lord. Again, the idea of our confidence being in Christ is that it wasn't something that we accomplished and could therefore lose, it was something that he did for us that we could never lose. To see that term again used in 2 Thessalonians 1.4, again Paul says, so that we ourselves boast of you among the churches of God for your patience and faith in all your persecutions and tribulations that you endure. Again, Paul's point here is that our perseverance is not the result of our personal strength or our planning. It is the work of God the Holy Spirit causing us to persevere. We boast because we're made to be able to endure because of the work of the Spirit within us. Our rejoicing, according to this passage, is all about what Jesus Christ has done for us. If it were up to us, we would lose our salvation, and we would feel hopeless, and we would lack any sort of confidence. But because it is based upon the finished work of Jesus Christ, and His absolute perfect obedience, we can literally rest our hat on that promise, and we can grow to utterly depend on it, even after we do things that we wish and prayed we never ever did. because of him. We have confidence in Him because of what He's done. The beauty of the Gospel is that He's done it. He's given to us because of His mercy and His grace. He isn't like some people who when you do something you weren't supposed to do to them, that they take the gift from you. He gives it to you, and then He gives it to you, and then He gives it to you, and He reminds you on every page, in every chapter in Scripture. that for no other reason than my grace I have set my love upon you that you might live for me. And even after we do things that we regret, that we need to repent of, that we need to apologize for, His love is there to burst you up, to strengthen you. Hebrews talks about strengthening your feeble elbows and knees, that we might walk for the glory of Christ our Savior. Well, that begins in realizing what He has done for us. and not allowing our hearts to be so troubled that we tailspin into thinking things that are just not so. Thinking things about ourselves that are lies from the pit of hell. Amen? Have any of you ever laid in the midnight hour, unless you're working third shift, I pray for you every day, where all of a sudden, everything you have ever done seeps into your mind, from two years old up to five minutes ago. Well, it can't be five minutes ago if you get my point. And you feel overwhelmed. Tears stream in your eyes and they fall down your cheeks. The point of what Paul writes here to us, all of Romans, certainly all of chapter five of the book of Romans, is something that the Christian must learn to stand upon by faith. In other words, Paul isn't asking you to take an inventory of the number of good things that you hope outweighs the bad things that you've done. Amen? He isn't asking you to make a list of ten things you need to do that will make you more acceptable in the sight of God, because through Christ you have already been reconciled to Him. He's not asking you to dress better, to look better, to be nicer for the sake of nice. Although we will be nicer, we will be more loving by virtue of our walking with Christ. What he isn't telling us is to hurry up and do better. Amen? He is essentially calling us to believe upon the very work of Jesus Christ who reconciled us to the Father, which was a Trinitarian work in us that began before the world had been created, that you might live for His glory. One day, many years ago, a high school kid is playing football. It's on a Friday night, it is October, it is raining, and they're playing on a field of mud. It's not dirt, it's mud. And in certain spots on this field are thicker than the others, and when you step down into it, the cleats get stuck, and you almost have to, you know, pull yourself out of it. So this young man, 16 years old, is playing high school football. It's raining out. It's every young boy's dream to play football in the wet, mud everywhere. But this young man jumps up in the air and he intercepts the ball. That means that the team on offense throws the ball and the defensive team caught the ball. And he lands, and he lands in one of these soft spots in the mud, and his cleats get stuck in the mud. He can't lift his leg up, and somebody comes and hits him, and although it wasn't their desire, hits him just right, and his leg breaks in two spots. Ouch. I believe it was the tibia and the fibula. You can hear him screaming all the way at the top of the stands. He's crying, he's a tough kid, but there was no way he could have anticipated this much pain. And his tears are just streaming down his face. You have the doctors coming from both sides, coming to check in on this kid. He's screaming, he's crying. They get him up on one of those stretchers, they take him to the ER, and they set him before a doctor. And it's the most profound thing. Like most doctors, this doctor knows exactly what to do. He slaps him up on the emergency surgery table, he gets the handy-dandy screws, he gets the steel plate, he slaps it in his leg, he ties him down. And he's healed, although not completely. He's got months of rehab to go, and he'll never play high school football again. The point is that when they went into the doctor, the doctor knew what to do. And guess what? Jesus Christ knew what to do for us. The point that Paul is actually arguing is at what point are we going to take our eyes off of everything we think we ought to do to be better in His sight and simply receive grace through Jesus Christ that was given to us? A work that He did in us, apart from anything we could have perceived or thought of or worked towards, He simply gave it to you. He worked in you. when it was time, according to His will. And He did it so that we might be to the praise of His glorious name. Let me read something for you that you've probably heard a billion times. I'd ask one of the catechism kids to come up and recite the second question of the Heidelberg Catechism, but I don't want to embarrass anybody. Heidelberg Catechism question and answer number two. How many things are necessary for you to know that in this comfort you may live and die happily? Three things. First, the greatness of my sin and misery. Secondly, how I am redeemed from all my sins and misery. And third, how I am to be thankful to God for such redemption. Again, Paul is not arguing that you and I create the plan that will somehow make us righteous enough to stand before the Father's presence because the Son has already worked on our behalf. His righteousness has made us righteous. And although at times we may feel inadequate and unlovable, that in no way, shape, or form takes away from His work that has taken root in you. Yep, we are called to pursue righteousness. Yep, we are called to mortify our sin. Yes, we are. Amen. but the Lord our God isn't asking you to do work that makes you acceptable before Him because that work has already been done on the cross of Calvary. So when you're in the midnight hour and you feel guilty about things that you did, you can yet again ask the Lord to forgive you And yet we stand upon the promises of our good and perfect High Priest, Jesus Christ, every day until we go home to be with Him. I'd like to say that if somebody accused me of something that I did when I was a little boy or whatever, I would like to say, yep, you're right, I did. But Jesus Christ has forgiven my soul. And that is our cry each and every day we have life. Let's pray. Lord God in heaven, we thank you for your precious word. We thank you, Heavenly Father, that now we have examined your word. We are given the privilege of yet again remembering all that you have done for us in Christ our Savior through the sacrament of the Lord's Supper. I pray, Heavenly Father, that this would be to the praise of your glorious name. Help us to think high and lofty thoughts about all that you have done for us and all that it means for us each and every day. Feed us, nourish us spiritually in our hearts that we might live for you. For it is in your precious name we pray. Amen.